


The Evil Masked By My Good

by Lumiel_lightbringer, Number_fucking_Four (Lumiel_lightbringer)



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: (again its klaus so i mean), (its klaus so obviously), Angst, Blood, Blood and Violence, Brutal Murder, Canonical Character Death, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks, Gen, Ghosts, Graphic Description of Corpses, Hurt, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Klaus Hargreeves Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Klaus accidentally killed a bitch, M/M, Murder, Past Character Death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Ben Hargreeves, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Recreational Drug Use, Triggers, Violence, but they deserved it so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:42:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22034248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumiel_lightbringer/pseuds/Lumiel_lightbringer, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumiel_lightbringer/pseuds/Number_fucking_Four
Summary: Emotional control was something Klaus worked hard to master and, on some levels, he had mastered it. But PTSD is a bitch, and the wrong (right?) trigger and one surprise ability leads to bloodshed.Or,Klaus is triggered on a mission and accidentally kills. Things go downhill after he realises how much he loves the feeling.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Diego Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Dave/Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 4
Kudos: 136





	1. Chapter 1

~  
Chapter 1

Wakefulness comes to Klaus unpleasantly, as usual.

The usual groggy feeling clogs his brain as his mind flits over the images his nightmare revealed to him.

Blood, death, injury, blah blah blah.

His regular nightmare, in all honesty.

With a lot of willpower - in fact, more than Klaus thought he had - he pushes the pictures away and takes in a gulp of heavy air.

His skin sticks with sweat, his hair greasy with the same substance, as he pulls himself out of his too-thick blanket.

Klaus falls off his bed, and less-than-gracefully gets up to put on clothing.

A grey tee and black shorts seems suitable enough, he decides, and slips them on, then grabbing the bottle of eyeliner Allison bought him - secretly, since neither are sure how Reginald would react to that sort of thing. The only reason he never notices that he's actually using makeup is because their amazing father rarely acknowledges Klaus unless it is to scold and/or train him - and smudging it over his lids.

It wasn't perfect, but Klaus couldn't care less.

Placing the makeup back on the nearest surface, Klaus turns to leave the room, only to come face-to-face with a decapitated woman.

"Fuck sake-" Klaus gasps out, half-stumbling on his own feet as he backs up.

The woman is facing him, but without the head he isn't entirely sure which way she is looking - well none, technically, but, like... Nevermind. He doesn't understand it either.

"How are you _here_?" Number Four asks, blinking as if that original idea would send her back to Hell or Heaven or Purgatory or wherever she should be sent.

He doesn't get a response, not that he expected one in the first place - decapitated, remember?

"... You got a name?" He tries. Sometimes the souls that visit him want something - to say goodbye, to say they're sorry, to give a friend or family member some other message, or even, a few times, an object. Others want revenge against whoever killed them. Klaus usually asks them if they fall into any of those categories, and, if they do, they leave him alone afterwards. This one, though, might be a lot more difficult to ward off.

She's got no head!

The spirit does nothing, and Klaus sighs.

He walks towards her, and, carefully, tries to squeeze between where she stands and out his door.

At that wonderful time, footsteps approach, and Diego walks past Klaus's room.

He turns his head to see Number Four standing like he's between a bookshelf and a wall while in the middle of his doorway.

"What... are you doing?" He asks, squinting in confusion.

"Nothing." Klaus replies, glancing at the decapitated spirit he has since deemed _Margeret_ so his internal monologue can make more sense as more ghosts appear. Not all of them can be 'the creepy ghost' and 'the decapitated one/ghost/spirit/bitch/dead person/corpse/etc.' is too many words for multiple sentences.

Diego notices his brother's darting eyes and sighs, "Bad one?"

"They're _all_ bad." Klaus hisses, and finishes getting out. He turns and awkwardly grabs the doorknob, shutting the door on Margeret the Decapitated Ghost.

He looks back at Diego and nearly has a heart-attack when Margeret now stands right behind Two.

"Wonderful." He whispers, and Diego gives him a sad smile.

The two head down the stairs together, and Klaus vaguely acknowledges the spirits that scream his name as he goes down the steps.

Allison isn't the only one that knows what it's like to be stalked by creepy old men.

The reach the breakfast table with only minor traumatic experiences.

Klaus ignores the leg-less 80-year-old that seems intent on sitting on Luther's lap, and tries to tune out the angry German that is currently shouting a variety of slurs at him.

Reginald joins the table, and after they stand awkwardly for a few minutes, allows the seven to take their seats.

Klaus picks at his food, Ben eyeing him worriedly, while watching the leg-less ghost - Kylie, he decides - run wrinkled hands down Luther's biceps. He makes a face but doesn't say anything. 

Meanwhile, the enraged Nazi - Henry - starts berating the rest of the family. Klaus blinks and turns to face him, "Do you have any swears that don't sound like someone hocking a loogie?" He asks, grinning as he starts spewing more words that he cannot, for the life of him, begin to comprehend. He doesn't care. He won.

Ben watches Klaus with amusement, eyebrows raised as Four turns back and grabs his fork again.

"Idiot Nazi is shouting slurs." Klaus explains, "I've named him Henry."

Thank someone Reginald became (slightly) more lenient with them once he discovered their grand time travel stunt in the future, or else Klaus would've been scolded for talking during a meal - not that he cares that much anymore. Just a little. Ok, a lot, but fuck off.

"Ah. Any reason behind the name?" Ben tilts his head as he asks, looking from Klaus to where he had turned to shout at the ghost.

"Nope. Just the first one I thought of that wasn't Adolf. He has his stupid armband on too."

Ben nods, slowly, before turning back to his food.

Klaus looks at his plate and nearly tears up as he eats waffles beside Ben, once more.


	2. Chapter 2

~  
Chapter 2

Klaus sits on the couch - lounges is a more accurate word for it, actually - beside Diego.

The first thing Reginald decided to do after post-time travel interrogation - he was less than pleased at Klaus's lack of improvement at age 30 - was, after dinner, sleep, and breakfast (they have a schedule) was train Ben.

Klaus tensed up when he heard the plan, and even went so far as to openly oppose it. ("With no due respect, daddy dearest, but Ben has _just_ come back from the dead, and with the deep, thorough knowledge I have of my brother, I would like to safely say the _last_ thing he wants to do now that he has been _gifted_ life again would be _train_ using the same powers that killed him while under _your_ shit supervision." Is what he _wanted_ to say, but what he managed to stammer out was, "I don't think Ben would wanna train after what happened before..." Which only got him a stern talking to about talking back and a deep-rooted threat of mausoleums before Ben was dragged off, giving Klaus and Diego a reassuring smile, to wherever it is he goes.)

Now, the Dynamic Duo Part Two-O - Klaus and Ben are _the_ Dynamic Duo, but Four and Two are working on their relationship, and they might become a trio of sorts if they can come up with an alliteration that sounds spicy enough - are moping in the living room and completely ignoring their studies because it's useless, they're adults in teen bodies, and Grace is kind enough to promise not to tell Reginald as long as they don't get into trouble.

"Bro." Diego glares at Klaus, who is currently in the process of lighting what is definitely _not_ a joint.

"What?"

"A) No smoking inside, B) no smoking in general, I don't care if we're technically 30 you're not becoming a junkie again."

"A) Fuck off, B) fuck. Off. You're not my dad. Hell, my dad isn't my dad! We don't have dads! I mean, _yay_ to that, but... That wasn't supposed to be my point. Just fuck off."

"Damn. That... Got a little deep."

"Please. You haven't seen deep. You will in a few minutes, though." Klaus finishes lighting the not-joint instead of waving an open flame about like the pyromaniac he _isn't, shut your trap Diego, you don't get to judge my love of candles, I'm not called the Séance for nothing, you idiot squid._

Diego sighs and snatches the green lighter from Klaus's hands, "I'm taking this, and that's gonna be your last joint. Got it?"

"Up your's." Klaus mutters, taking an unnecessarily long drag of the _ok-fine-it's-a-joint_.

Number Two proceeds to stand up and head out to the staircase.

Klaus's eyes widen and he races after him, "Dude! I deserve privacy!" He exclaims as the stupid squid heads down the halls, turning at Klaus's room and entering. " _Privacy_!" He emphasises each vowel a bit too much, "It's a thing you clearly have no concept of!"

"Neither do you, you pantless psychic."

Klaus pauses, frowning, "Did you just call me a _psychic_?"

Diego turns from the pillow he was ransacking, "Yeah?"

"Hon _ey_!" Klaus exclaims and Number Two tries not to laugh at the amount of octaves up he climbed in a two-syllable word, "I am _not_ a _psychic_ , I see _ghosts_ , dead people, spirits, corpses, the works, but I am _not_ a psychic!"

"Don't see the difference." Diego mutters, going back to his thorough raid. For the record, he currently has claimed eight baggies of weed and two of pills and he's only been to Klaus's bed.

"The difference is..." Klaus stops. What the fuck _is_ the difference? "I don't read minds." He finally decides, "And I don't talk to- to _angels_ or- or _demons_. Just ghosts. Y'know. The..." He grimaces, "Fun ones."

Diego snorts.

"That's rich. What, next you'll tell me you don't have a drug problem?"

"I don't!" He exclaims, and waves the joint in front of Diego as he continues, "I have a drug _solution_. I have a _ghost_ problem. The drugs just help. They _solve_ my life's mysteries."

"Is the mystery, 'how quickly can someone throw away their life'?"

"Can it, bean boy."

"What?"

Klaus sighs and turns to the side, glaring at an eight year-old boy who seems intent on getting a second portion of beanie weenies, despite Klaus repeatedly telling him that he is neither his father nor anyone else's, nor does he want to be, and that he also does not have the tools or mental capacity to open a can of beans, chop up hot dogs, combine, and microwave for 2-3 minutes.

"Not _you_ , _him_!" He waves a hand at the child, who lets out a loud, grocery store squeal, and Klaus clamps his palms over his ears. "Ghost. _Problem_!" He repeats, moving his right hand so that he can take a hit.

It takes a few minutes for the high to begin to set in, but once it does, the spirit begins flickering in and out of his vision, before finally disappearing.

Klaus drops his hands to his sides and sighs in relief.

Diego eyes him worriedly, but stays silent, turning back to his drug raid.

A blaring alarm goes off and the house flashes red.

Klaus's hands return to his ears, his joint on the ground and his body trembling. He's already starting to curl up on himself when Diego places a hand on the back of his head, "Hey, hey, Klaus, look at me," He has to shout over the alarm, but Klaus opens his eyes - though if it's from the touch or the words, Diego doesn't know, nor does he really care.

"It's ok, just a mission alarm, that's it. It's ok."

Klaus's eyes are far off and he's staring through Diego because he doesn't know where he is or why people are yelling and who these people are and _why are they giving him a gun why does he need a gun why do they have guns why does he have a gun why does he need a gun why do th-_

"Number Four!" Diego shouts, and Klaus returns to the present, eyes wide and panicked. "You're safe. You're safe. We gotta change, though. Can you do that? Can you get changed on your own?"

Klaus nods, blinking and trying to steady his breathing. He's back as quickly as he left, and Diego carefully pulls Klaus's hands off of his ears.

"I gotta get my own uniform. I'll be right back, ok?"

Klaus nods again, and Diego races to his own room.

Number Four turns, rather robotically, towards his closet.

He grabs the black uniform and, after removing his tee - he chose not to wear pants that morning -, puts on the costume.

He finds his mask on his bookcase that lacks even a single book, and places it over his eyes.

Klaus can hear Reginald shouting from downstairs, but it busy fiddling with his zipper to care.

Diego returns after what was probably only 2 minutes. He smiles and helps Klaus pull the zipper up the rest of the way, before placing a hand on his back.

"Boys, you have to be downstairs for a mission!" They turn to see Grace standing in the doorway.

She enters and smiles at Klaus, reaching out and adjusting his mask. "Have fun, sweetie." She says, and the two head out to meet the other five.

Vanya has her own uniform by now, and Five is talking to her - probably about the mission, or the after-mission photo shoot, or whatever else she needs to know protocol about.

Reginald sighs at Klaus and Diego, grabbing Number Four by the bicep and muttering, "Five minutes late. That's five days starting tonight, Number Four."

Klaus chokes on air, but as soon as he's released, goes to stand between Allison and Five.

Ben leans back and gives Klaus a worried look, but Four just smiles weakly.

Reginald shouts, and they all stand taller and face forward.


	3. Chapter 3

~  
Chapter 3 

Klaus falls to the ground, standing on the balls of his feet while hunched up on himself.

Bullets fly past his face and he ducks down, narrowly avoiding one. There's too much noise, far too much fucking _noise_.

The ghosts wail around him, soldiers from his platoon and from the others. Other spirits scream, shout, and curse at him, soldiers from the other side - the enemy.

Klaus can ignore them, he can, he can, he can, he _can_ oh _God_ he _can't_ -

There's too much noise, far too much fucking noise.

There are words yelled in English and in Vietnamese. He understands the codes, the signals, the orders - he learned them relatively quickly and knew what to do whenever one was shouted.

He hears his name being called, he heard a familiar voice, and there's a hand on his back.

"You're alright, Klaus. You're alright." The voice is so kind, so loving, so _perfect_.

Klaus can't breathe, he's staring at him, he's alive and he's here and he's-

Klaus cries as the blood begins to spread, and oh God he's screaming again.

There's so much noise, there's too much noise, there's too much fucking noise.

"It's ok, Klaus. I'm here," His voice is weaker now, but still so _perfect_.

Klaus is sobbing, uncontrollably while screaming in English, screaming in Vietnamese, screaming nonsense and swears and everything he fucking can because oh _God he's_ dying and Klaus can't do _anything_.

"Medic! _Medic_!"

Klaus curls up over his convulsing body, screaming and begging anyone around him to _help_ because he _can't_ but he can't let him _die_ and it's all _too much_ and why is it so _fucking loud_?

"Help! _Please_ oh _God_ help! _Medic_!"

He can't breathe, he can't breathe, _he can't breathe_ , _he can't breathe_ -

"Trợ giúp! Nhận trợ giúp! _Làm ơn_! Tôi cần một Medic! _Medic_!"

He's not moving, he's not fucking _moving_ and Klaus can't fucking _breathe_ oh God oh God oh _Satan_ , fuck, _fuck_ \- _Someone_ please, please- _Anyone_ \- 

"Klaus..."

Klaus sobs and shakes his head, he can't handle this, he can't he _can't_.

"Four..."

He clenches his fists, screwing his eyes shut and eliciting the loudest scream he could.

"I heard a rumour..."

Klaus's eyes open, and Dave is dead and he can't breathe and the love of his fucking _life_ is dead and there's _nothing_ he can do to fix it he fucked up he fucked up so bad and now h-

"I heard a rumour you calmed down..."

Klaus blinks hard, tears streaming down his face in hot streaks, but when he opens them Dave is gone, and he's surrounded by his siblings.

He chokes on air, but the tears are forced to an abrupt stop and his eyes burn.

"Làm ơn..." Klaus sobs, but he's exhausted, and he can't find enough energy to do much apart from collapse into the arms of whoever is holding his hands behind his back.

"Breathe... Breathe..." Diego whispers, running a hand down his arm, "You're safe. You're safe, I promise."

Klaus blinks away fog in his eyes and realises that he's on the floor of what could be any assortment of government buildings, but settles on _bank_ because of the posters.

Klaus tries to pull his hands free but Diego tightens his grip. Luther takes a step forward, hand extended, but Diego hisses, "You'll hurt him, monkey boy."

Luther glares at Diego, who glares back, and is only stopped by Allison taking a step to the side and getting in between them.

She kneels down and smiles at Klaus, "Are you ok?"

He isn't sure how to respond, words stuck in his throat, but he is sure that he doesn't like being restrained like this, and thrashes against Diego's hold.

"N- _n-_ " Klaus cries when he can't talk right, and gives Allison a terrified look before looking around for Ben - Ben would help him, Ben would tell him what was going on, Ben would make Diego let go.

" _Nnn_!" It's got the point across well, the whining manages to get Allison to stand up and take a step back, giving him more space which he needs.

Klaus can't find Ben, and begins to panic - what was going on? Was Ben dead again? No, no no no no-

"Four- Four, breathe." Diego says, and there's a hand on his forearm that thankfully belongs to Ben.

Ben is soaked in blood, as he usually is after missions, but looks unharmed - minus the fact that's he shaking, but, again, that wasn't unusual after missions.

"I'm here," Ben reassures, smiling softly, "I'm ok."

Klaus realises he's hyperventilating, and lets out all of the air in one long, shaky breath.

"Wha-" He breaks off into a fit of coughs, his throat scratchy and throat hoarse - probably from all the screaming, "What's- what's happening?"

Everyone looks uncomfortable, but Five speaks. "To put it simply: You panicked, spoke Vietnamese, and ki-"

Vanya shifts and whispers something to Five, who then sighs, but doesn't finish his sentence.

"What? Finish it, Five, finish it." Klaus demands, breathing heavily and glancing at Ben, who seems intrigued by the umbrella tattoo on Klaus's wrist that they all have - but Klaus's is obviously more interesting, take it from Ben who is not ignoring the situation in favour of doing anything but acknowledging what happened.

"Five. Tell me." Everyone stays silent except from the butchered corpses dragging themselves across the room, "Tell me!"

Silence.

Klaus feels fear build in his gut and for a second he swears there's gunfire.

"Hãy cho tôi biết!"

"Please-" He sobs, and fights Diego's grasp.

Diego sighs, and lets go.

"Two-"

"Diego you-"

"Why the fuck would-"

The voices of Klaus's siblings become muffled as he pulls his hands free only to see blood, so much fucking _blood_ , but... But no wound.

Klaus looks up, and Ben is crying.

_The gun is pointed at him, and Klaus tries to steady himself._

_Just as the man pulls the trigger, a wave of sound pulls the gunman away._

_The bullet misses, but Klaus can't see past the dead anymore- too many, too many, too_ many _and the man is now floating, screaming at him while Vanya stares wide-eyed at the corpse in front of her, neck cracked._

_"It happens!" Five shouts, disappearing, after knocking out another with their firearm trained on Klaus's unmoving figure._

_The ghosts wail around him, soldiers from his platoon and from the others. Other spirits scream, shout, and curse at him, soldiers from the other side - the enemy._

_The enemy._

The enemy.

_Blue sparks dance on Klaus's fingertips._

_Klaus can ignore them, he can, he can, he can, he_ can _oh_ God _he_ can't _-_

_He clenches his fists, his body shaking and tears tracking down his cheeks._

_There's too much noise, far too much_ fucking _noise._

_The enemy, Klaus remembers -_

_There are words yelled in English and in Vietnamese. He understands the codes, the signals, the orders - he learned them relatively quickly and knew what to do whenever one was shouted._

_The spirits fall silent, staring at the blue aura surrounding Number Four._

_He hears his name being called, he heard a familiar voice, and there's a hand on his back._

_Diego is at his side, taking his arm._

_"You're alright, Klaus. You're alright." The voice is so kind, so loving, so_ perfect _._

_Diego can feel unbearable cold radiating off of Klaus despite the sweat soaking Four's skin, "Four!" He shouts, and then realises that they aren't alone._

_Klaus can't breathe, he's staring at him, he's alive and he's here and he's-_

_The ghosts surround them and Diego's breath catches - this is what Klaus sees?_

_There's a familiar noise and Diego turns._

_Oh_ fuck _, Number Two curses and grabs for a knife when he feels a bullet graze his cheek._

_His fingers slip and the knife falls. He grabs for another but-_

_Klaus cries as the blood begins to spread, and oh God he's screaming again._

_Diego looks up in time to see the gunman hovering ten feet above the ground._

_Klaus's hand is outstretched, and he's screaming, he's screaming in a language Diego doesn't recognize-_

_There's so much noise, there's too much noise, there's too much fucking noise._

_The man is pulled forwards and Klaus has his hand around his neck._

_Diego can't move, staring as Klaus draws blood._

_"Four!"_

_Klaus's free hand shoots forward and oh_ God _-_

_"It's ok, Klaus. I'm here," His voice is weaker now, but still so_ perfect _._

_Klaus is sobbing, uncontrollably while screaming in English, screaming in Vietnamese, screaming nonsense and swears and everything he fucking can because oh God_ he's _dying and Klaus can't do_ anything _._

_"Medic!_ Medic _!"_

_Diego holds Klaus tightly, the two fallen on the ground as the corpse lies a few feet away, the heart torn out clean._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, changed my style again-

~

_All your fault..._

_Innocence lost._

_Foolish, reckless, psychotic-_

_Irresponsible, incompetent, idiotic._

_Just as insane as the rest of us._

_Us?_

Klaus blinks hard, the palms of his hands rubbing over his eyes as if that would remove the horrors encased.

He's shaking, still, and he can't seem to get a steady breath in.

The ghosts are quiet, oddly enough - only whispers and cries to be heard from the deceased souls.

The screaming stopped at the bank and hasn't returned yet.

For that, Klaus is thankful. But, as he has now discovered, maybe some of those voices that he's been hearing for oh-so long haven't been the ghosts.

There isn't blissful silence, like when he's high. And there isn't faded gasps and whispers of a touch like when he's drunk.

This is... This is different.

Eerie.

The ghosts are still there, he can see them. Not even the shadows he would see when he's drunk, or coming down from a wicked high. They are very clearly... There.

Solid, one might say.

But they don't scream. They don't wail. They just watch, and whisper, and point, and sometimes, laugh. But the anger, the agony, is almost gone.

He can feel their energies, and how light they are now is unnerving.

They seem... Happy? No, no, ghosts can't be happy. Relieved? Excited, maybe? No, no... That's not right... Stunned? Yes, Klaus thinks, that fits.

They seem stunned.

Klaus finds that that's as relatable as anything, considering he just killed a man with his bare hands.

The Séance knows he's in shock - he knows his mind is garbled and his emotions are stunted. But that seems to also, somehow, translate into the phantoms' actions. Or, at least, he thinks it does.

It could just as easily _not_ be his doing.

The ghosts might just be surprised at how the pathetic little boy they've been tormenting snapped in a matter of seconds.

Klaus sighs, deeply, and tries to steady himself. His mind is running and he's sure his siblings are talking to him, though he can't tell what they're saying.

"Huh?" He asks, voice weak.

Luther sighs, lip raising slightly, and he repeats, "We're home, and we need to tell Dad what happened."

Diego, again, if his exasperation is evidence, says, " _No_ we _don't_ , he'll have Klaus's head."

"So what?" Five asks, "Who'll take the blame?"

Vanya starts to raise her hand, when Five pushes it back down.

Allison, then, puts her hand up, and Luther goes to do what Five just did, when she gives him a stern look. "I'll tell Dad I made another guy shoot his friend."

"Allison-" Luther begins, but she keeps talking, "I'll say I forgot to specify where and he shot him through the heart."

"There are servallince cameras." Five replies, "We can't lie."

"Or," Diego turns, "You can zap in and destroy them."

"Weren't you a cop?"

Before Diego can answer, Five is gone.

Allison continues to argue with Luther ("His heart was on the _ground_ , how will you explain _that_?" He shouts, "He doesn't have to know that!" She exclaims, annoyed. "The news, the cameras-" He counters, "Five is taking care of the cameras" Luther groans, "The _news_ -" Allison leans in close, "Five can get rid of the heart!"; "We really should've done this at the bank," Grumbles Ben.) while Vanya kneels down to check on Klaus.

"Are you okay?" She asks, quietly.

Klaus, still trying to blink away the image of the corpse he made as well as the many currently surrounding him, tries to smile comfortingly. It fails.

Vanya pulls Klaus in close and rubs his back, "I killed a man back there, too." She says, "I snapped his neck. I mean, I didn't mean to, but I did. And I know you didn't mean to either."

"I think I did..." Klaus mumbles, and Vanya shakes her head.

"Even if you did, I know you had a good reason."

"I didn't. I don't." He whispers, and his eyes begin to water.

Vanya pulls away and looks him in the eyes - her's as back to the gentle brown they have always been, instead of the endless seas of white Klaus is afraid to look into - "That's okay, too." She promises, and Klaus breaks.

Ben is kneeling beside him now, too, rubbing his back and pressing his forehead against Klaus's shoulder, "You're alright." He promises, because he's killed people, too, because he knows that shock, that horror that he feels now. The guilt. The regret. The hollowing of his gut as he realises that he killed once, and what's stopping him from doing it again?

"Just breathe." Ben says, and Klaus does just that, because there's nothing else he can do. There's no more energy in his hollowed body. There's no more... Hope, in his detached heart. What else could he possibly do?

What else could a monster possibly do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's short, sorry- i spat this out while listening to the horror and the wild - a fucking BOP ass album listen to it, please, thanks. it's the best and I am boutta break into song oops-


End file.
